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REVIEW: Edge of Tomorrow

“Groundhog Day” worked. It’s a classic. But the imitators that followed didn’t’ come close to its success . There was Dennis Quaid and the attempted Presidential Assassination in the 2008 film “Vantage Point” and the Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s very talented son) sci-fier “Source Code”, with a bomber on a Chicago commuter train.

Based on a popular book, “Edge of Tomorrow” is Tom Cruise’s 9th thriller (or sci-fier). This time he’s a reluctant soldier who’s stuck in a relentless time loop, at war with aliens alongside Emily Blunt , who plays a goddess warrior. This is not your typical Tom Cruise action flick. He’s an untrained, terrified soldier thrown into a war where he dies within minutes only to reset and relive his demise over and over and over til he gets it right. He learns more and more each time. The thing is, each day he re-lives, he has to reintro himself to Blunt’s warrior goddess (Rita Vrataski) because an alliance with her is the ony way to win this battle, much less the war with the aliens. So it’s also a sci-fi version of the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore rom-com “50 First Dates”. But there’s just a hint of romance in “Edge Of Tomorrow”.

Directed by Doug Limon of “The Bourne Identity”, the action keeps you on edge. But I still found it tedious to basicallyrelive the same scene over and over and over. It was fun seeing Cruise play against type. Basically he’s dragged kicking and screaming into battle. He’s a wuss who’s forced to become a man. And there’s a good dose of humor thrown in.

Why they came up with the soap opera-like title “Edge Of Tomorrow” is a mystery. Why didn’t they stick with the title of the 2004 book “All You Need Is Kill”? While that will have you scratching your head, so will the ending.